EPA
Vol. 2
March /April \e\.V\
No. 2
CONVERSION TO MVS UNDERWAY AT WCC
Several months ago, WCC managers began an
assessment of the alternatives for growth
and expansion at the WCC. It soon became
apparent that IBM's new and fully sup-
ported operating system, Multiple Virtual
Storage (MVS), had great potential to
provide cost-effective growth.
Expected conversion benefits include im-
proved availability and reliability which
result from major design changes in the
development of MVS. These design
changes, in most instances, prevent a
user error or a single system component
from causing the entire system to crash.
Sophisticated error recovery routines
isolate potential problems, in some cases
bypass them, flush the failing component
or task, and enable continued normal sys-
tem processing.
Following a standard practice, IBM no
longer supports the old product, MVT,
once a newer replacement product, MVS,
has been in the marketplace for several
years. In effect, IBM's warranty for MVT
has expired. As a result, installations
such as the WCC must find and fix all
problems with the operating system, even
though some may be deficiencies in the
system originally provided by IBM. MVS,
on the other hand, is fully supported.
Whenever a problem occurs under MVS, the
combined resources of WCC and IBM can be
tapped for resolution.
As newer and more advanced hardware pro-
ducts are announced by the ADP vendor
community, the WCC should be in a posi-
tion to cost-effectively evaluate these
products for installation. The MVS sys-
tem is compatible with a wider array of
enhanced hardware. In fact, some prom-
ising technology already on the market
is incompatible with MVT, and installa-
tion cannot be considered until MVS is in
production.
Maureen Johnson, Computer Specialist
The transition to MVS will place the WCC
in an advantageous position for any
future conversion. That is, moving now
to a configuration which is more com-
patible with future alternatives will
ease later conversions. MIDSD will
oversee the entire conversion effort, to
include approving the functions supplied
in the new system, holding contractors to
scheduled target dates, ensuring that
user needs are met, and approving all
system documentation. COMNET will co-
ordinate the overall conversion plan, and
will perform the necessary technical
analysis, build the operating system,
provide user test systems, and generate
related documentation.
The WCC staff has begun system testing
and is finalizing design and processing
options. A special software and hardware
configuration will be available during
the conversion period which will handle
production and testing concurrently on
both operating systems. Users will be
able to begin testing under the new oper-
ating system in April.
New documentation, on-line and in appro-
priate user's guide, is under develop-
ment. Training will be provided at
fourteen sites, and in weekly courses at
Headquarters.
A special user conversion assistance team
will be answering telephone calls, pro-
ducing a User Conversion Guide, and co-
ordinating conversion training and test-
ing schedules. All system managers are
urged to plan and schedule conversion
activities now.
For conversion scheduling and related
information, please refer to the SIGNON
Newsletter.
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DIRECTOR'S
CORNER
NADPI
Sam Brown, Acting Director
The GODFATHER (Willis Greenstreet) is
gone! Willis accepted a position with
the Merit Systems Protection Board as
Director of Administration. He now has
responsibility for contracts, personnel,
facilities, and whatever in an area
that has the dynamics of any newly
created organization. We had a well-
attended and lively going-away party in
Washington to mark the end of an EPA-era.
Jean Wilkinson has joined Willis as one
of his Branch Chiefs.
In the "Caretaker" role of MIDSD Acting
Director while the "Council meets to
appoint GODFATHER II", I can report a few
significant happenings since the previous
DATA TALK issue. Dick Nolan of Nolan,
Norton and Company has completed an
assessment of ADP capability and manage-
ment in EPA. A briefing has been given
to 0PM management and is being scheduled
for all EPA program areas. At the
National Computer Center, workload con-
tinues to grow and systems performance
and reliability remain at a very high
level. The National ADP Institute has
started its spring offerings with some
outstanding courses and instructors. The
Chemical Information System project and
personnel have been transferred from
MIDSD to the Office of Toxic Substances.
An extensive ADP audit by GAO has begun
in EPA. Five or six people will be
reviewing the ADP area for most of this
remaining calendar year. Contact with
all program areas is being coordinated by
Morris Yaguda. GAO has just completed a
case-study of the EPA Major ADP Acquisi-
tion Program using OMB Circular A-109.
EPA is one of several case-studies GAO is
using to determine the impact of A-109 on
ADP procurements.
Vic Cohei
The National ADP Institute offers educa-
tion and training through the development
of seminars, workshops, and briefings for
first-line, mid-level, and senior mana-
gers and administrators.
Management, NADPI's primary audience,
usually shows little interest in the
detailed, technical side of activities
such as laboratory operations, evolving
litigation, or the building of computer-
ized systems. However, managers can
benefit from a broader look at such sub-
jects. They should know what skills are
needed by federal and contractor person-
nel, how to measure and report achieve-
ment , progress, and fiscal control, and
how to evaluate technical innovations.
And they need the opportunity to share
new ideas and information with their
peers.
At NADPI, we are developing ways for EPA
to continue learning to manage its infor-
mation resources. Our intent is to pro-
vide the necessary repetition by present-
ing a course, then following it with a
second course on the same topic presented
in a different medium. Our ADP project
management series is a case in point.
NADPI has acquired a new course called
Applied Project Management (APM) as a
follow-on to ADP Project Management.
Both courses consist of lecture and work-
shop. However, the APM workshop uses a
project management model which is a part
of a computerized project planning and
control system. Although EPA already
operates several of these systems, few of
us can readily use the information* they
provide. The course, a must for all man-
agers of ADP-related projects, exempli-
fies the continuing nature of the educa-
tion process.
If you have not received the blue NADPI
brochure for this year and would like
one, please call the NADPI Registrar at
(FTS) 629-3701.
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NCC TRAINING NOW AVAILABLE
Ernie Watson, Computer Specialist
A concentrated effort by the mission con-
tractor to develop a repertoire of train-
ing at NCC has resulted in a foundation
of technical training on which to build
later. In-house instructors have devel-
oped and refined the following courses:
User Orientation Seminar
Executive Control Language
ASCII FORTRAN
PL/1
COBOL
PCIOS (Processor Common Input/Output
System)
Tektronics and CALCOMP Graphics
The Tektronix and CALCOMP Graphics course
introduces graphics and how to use them.
A knowledge of FORTRAN is a prerequisite
for this course.
For those employees who cannot attend the
training courses, for whatever reason,
courses are offered through ASET (the
Author System for Education and Train-
ing). This only requires a terminal to
access the system and can be taken piece-
meal. Two locally developed courses,
"ECL for the Millions" and "File Man-
ager," are available, as are BASIC,
COBOL, and CTS, which were supplied by
Univac.
Training is an ongoing effort at NCC.
The installation of new processors at NCC
will likely result in other seminars.
Some are already planned for the future
and others are currently being developed.
For more information, call the NCC Train-
ing Section at (919) 541-3648 or FTS
629-3648.
All these courses provide needed NCC/-
Univac specific information.
The User Orientation Seminar is a one and
one-half day presentation designed, in
part, to acquaint the computer user with
the National Computer Center, its man-
agement, its services, and some of its
people. The more technical portion of
the seminar covers computer access, run
execution, control language, security,
and warnings and recommendations.
After orientation, the student should
attend the Executive Control Language
seminar. This short course details the
uses of various control statements that
make the computer components available to
the programmer.
Because NCC is required to adhere to the
American National Standards Institute
ASCII standards, the training section
offers the ASCII versions of FORTRAN,
COBOL, and PL/1. These courses take
several days and are designed to teach
use of the language, not programing tech-
niques . Because these languages use
PCIOS to ensure inter-file compatibility,
the PCIOS seminar has been developed.
NCC HIGHLIGHTS
Tom Rogers, NCC Project Manager
Remote user support has been further
enhanced by the addition of the run sub-
mission notification code to the current
level of the operating system.
To provide flexibility and encourage
use of the weekends, a mechanism to allow
users a 5Q% discount on Saturdays became
effective April 1, 1979.
Significant resources have been
dedicated to the security effort at the
NCC. Key to this effort is the Disaster
Recovery Plan (DRP), the development of
which required questionnaires and inter-
views with ADP coordinators relative to
their system backup requirements.
W Additional mass storage systems will
be placed into production during April
and May.
Stability for the past quarter con-
tinues to be exceptional. We experienced
41 system failures for the quarter. The
8 failures in January represent an all-
time monthly record.
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SYSTEMS STATUS
Underground Injection Control Information System
The development of the Underground In-
jection Control Information System is
proceeding at a somewhat slower pace than
expected due to regulation changes caused
by EPA efforts to consolidate the permit-
ting process and state requirements. Al-
though the program regulations have not
been finalized, the grant regulations for
the UIC program were promulgated in the
Federal Register. A draft inventory in-
put form has been developed for the in-
jection wells and was sent to the Under-
ground Injection Control/Automatic Data
Processing Working Group for evaluation.
Work in preliminary design of the inven-
tory system is already underway.
Surface Impoundment Assessment
Information System
The Surface Impoundment Assessment (SIA)
obtains national data on impoundments to
evaluate the pollution potential of a
random sample and obtain information on
monitoring activities to protect the
nation's ground water from contamination
by surface impoundments. The Surface
Impoundment Assessment Information System
is designed to store data collected as a
result of the SIA effort and produce
reports and answers to ad hoc queries.
The data base design for the system, a
data element dictionary, all edit pro-
grams, and the development of data base
update programs have been completed. The
development staff is now verifying edit
and update runs made with SIA data, and
the associated reports will soon be
returned to the submitting regional
offices.
The deadline for contributions to the
May/June issue of EPA pa,ta Ta.Ik is
May 21, 1979.
Federal Reporting Data System
The Federal Reporting Data System (FRDS),
the drinking water data base for data
submitted by the states, became opera-
tional during January 1979. Information
from 34 states and the Indian reserva-
tions within two regions has been
received and information from 16 states
is now available for your use either
through one of the 22 standard reports or
through ad hoc query. A method of main-
taining FRDS documentation has been
established. Computer Sciences Corpora-
tion, developers of the system, will pro-
vide computer system maintenance and en-
hancements. A survey will be sent to the
regions concerning their utilization of
FRDS.
Model State Information System
MSIS has been installed in all 28 states
and the EPA regions which were prepared
to accept installation and formal class-
room training. MSIS was installed in
North Carolina in mid-February. MSIS
support to states and regions has been
re-oriented from an installation mode to
an operational mode. Research Triangle
Institute has been engaged to carry out a
three-phase study of MSIS. A result of
this study could be additional capabil-
ities to meet the changes in water pro-
gram management that have occurred since
the original MSIS design. The study
should be completed by October 1979. The
MSIS Users Support Group met in Santa Fe,
NM, April 17-19.
EP* Cata Talk la published bimonthly by the
National Computer Center, Management Information
and Data Systems Division, for EPA personnel and
contractors interested in general ADP topics.
Comments and suggestions are solicited and should
be addressed to:
William 0. Allen
Editor, EPA Data Talk
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park,
North Carolina 27711
To ensure that our distribution list is up-to-date,
please indicate any required changes on the nailing
label attached to this Issue and mail it to the
above address.
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NEW SOFTWARE REVIEW COUNCIL FORMED
The Data Center Branch of MIDSD has
formed a Software Review Council (SRC).
The SRC will serve both the National and
Washington Computer Centers. The objec-
tive of the SRC is to provide the user
community with a forum, made up of users
and data center personnel, to review and
implement user-requested enhancements to
existing software and purchases of new
software packages. The SRC will also
make recommendations for approval of the
MIDSD Data Center Branch Chief on present
and future software needs and policies of
the data centers.
The membership of the combined Software
Review Council reflects a cross-section
of the EPA user community and will con-
sist of:
• a representative for each major
EPA office,
Jim Obenschain
• one representative for the
regions,
• MIDSD Technical Managers repre-
senting each data center,
• an MIDSD representative for major
system development,
• non-voting representatives for the
two data center contractors, ar,d
an Agency software consultant.
Requests for additions or changes to
MIDSD-supported software are made with a
User System for Enhancement Request
(USER) form. This form is available from
the User Support Department at either
data center.
DEVELOPMENT, MAINTENANCE, AND OPERATIONS CONTRACT
The first of those phases is the design
and development of a data base oriented
system to support the requirement that
the regulated community notify the EPA of
their activity regarding the generation,
treatment, storage, and/or disposal of
hazardous wastes. This first phase of
the Facility Inventory Subsystem (of the
Hazardous Waste Data Management System)
identifies the regulated community, gen-
erates preprinted mailing information,
and formulates/generates the form used by
the community for the notification of
hazardous waste activity. This notifica-
tion form underwent evaluation/approval
by EPA Headquarters and in public hear-
ings during February/March of this year.
In response to the Resources Conservation
and Recovery Act (RCRA) of 1976, the
Office of Solid Waste (OSW) elected to
use the DM&O Contract to develop a Haz-
ardous Waste Data Management System.
Currently underway, this system will be
developed in four phases.
Recent advances in software methodologies
conclusively indicate that proper docu-
mentation is an essential item in system
development and an integral part of the
development process itself. In light of
Anne Parkis
these advances, the EPA is, through a
DM&O task, developing standards (based
for the most part on those published by
the National Bureau of Standards in FIPS
PUB 38) for the documentation of Agency
software.
The documentation products are (1) a
functional description, (2) a data dic-
tionary, (3) a user's guide, (1) a design
document, and (5) a programmer's refer-
ence manual. Also included is a set of
program coding guidelines for COBOL,
PL/1, and FORTRAN. The standards in-
clude, for each product, sample Tables of
Contents and descriptions of the various
sections involved.
Dr. Gene Lowrimore of MIDSD is respon-
sible for the standards and is managing
their development. The draft standards
are currently being reviewed by EPA ADP
personnel and are scheduled for final
release in June 1979. It is the inten-
tion of the Agency to include these
standards in the EPA ADP Manual by
either direct inclusion or reference so
that they may become part of future ADP
procurements, as well as assisting in the
forthcoming 1980's upgrade.
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GAP TO REVIEW ERA'S APR
The General Accounting OFfice, an arm of
the U.S. Congress, is auditing EPA's data
processing. The study, entitled "Review
of Effectiveness of EPA's Computer
Resources in Meeting Agency Missions and
Program Objectives," is expected to be
about five months in the interview phase.
A GAO report is expected in about nine
months.
GAO has, in the recent past, included EPA
in their cross-Agency assessments, such
as the one on use of data base management
systems. These studies look at many
agencies, and make recommendations to the
government as a whole. The current study
looks directly and only at EPA. Inter-
views with MIDSD personnel began in
March, and are soon expected to include
program office ADP staff members and sys-
tem users. Morris Yaguda at MIDSD is
keeping tabs on the effort.
UNITID STATW
IMVmONMf NTAL PROTECTION A6CNCY
National Computer Center
Research Triangle Park
North Carolina 27711
OFFICIAL BUSINESS
PENALTY FOR PRIVATE USE S3OO
TELECOMMUNICATIONS UPDATE
Fred Kastner
In January, 1979, COMNET announced that
RJE access to NCC for 1004-type remote
batch terminals could not be provided as
required by EPA. (Whether or not RJE
access to NCC for NTR-type remote batch
terminals can/will be provided is being
studied.) As a result of the announce-
ment, NCC plans to keep in service sev-
eral dedicated point-to-point circuits
"outside" of the COMNET network that pro-
vide RJE access to NCC. COMNET is also
studying possible network reconfiguration
plans to reduce network costs since 100^4
access to NCC will not be provided over
the networking facilities.
Users are encouraged to report any and
all telecommunications problems to the
COMNET technicians.
POSTAGE AND PCCS PAID
U S ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION AGENCY
EPA-939
THIRD CLASS
BLK. RT.
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